Thursday, December 08, 2016

NeverEnding Story, November 2016

Translated into Chinese by Chen-ou Liu
ballerinas
rehearsing in the park
i never knew
there were so many
graceful ways to die

A Hundred Gourds, 3:3, June 2014Chen-ou Liu's comments:
Strategically speaking, through a pivot on the unexpected (L3) to uncover the existential/inevitable aspect of the human condition, Debbie's tanka effectively builds, poetic phrase (ku)/line by poetic phrase (ku)/line, to a thematically significant and emotionally powerful ending that has the most weight and reveals the theme of death (or more precisely, of the relationship between art and death).

By the way, I think the ballet referred to in the upper verse might be "Swan Lake."

About Me

I write Japanese short form poetry in English (tanka, haiku, senryu) and tanshi (small poems). I also create haiga (haiku with art) and tanka/tanshi art. You are welcome to visit me on Twitter @Debbie_Strange